1. Field of the Description
The present description relates, in general, to amusement park rides and other entertainment rides such as round rides, and, more particularly, to amusement or theme park round rides configured to position a vehicle at numerous radii through movement of a coupler (or vehicle coupling point) on an end of a support arm through an irregular motion profile. The support arm is attached at an opposite end to a central hub that is rotated about a central or rotation axis at one or more speeds.
2. Relevant Background
Amusement and theme parks are popular worldwide with hundreds of millions of people visiting the parks each year. Park operators continuously seek new designs for rides that attract and continue to entertain park visitors. Many parks include round rides that include vehicles or gondolas mounted on support arms extending outward from a centrally located structure that is rotated by a drive assembly. The passengers or riders sit in the vehicles (or guest/rider compartments) and are rotated by the drive assembly, which spins the hub structure about its central axis.
In some of these rides, the passengers may operate an interactive device, such as a joystick in the vehicle, to make the support arm and their attached vehicle gradually move upward or downward within a limited, preset range such as by pivoting the support arm at its connection to the central hub. Some rides also allow the passengers to control the pitch of their vehicle.
Even with these added features, it is difficult to provide a round ride that attracts repeat riders because the ride experience is repetitive and predictable. For example, the support arm typically has a fixed length, and the vehicle is rigidly or pivotally mounted at a fixed location on the support aim. As a result, the radius at which the vehicle rotates about the central hub or rotation assembly does not vary much throughout the ride. This results in a motion profile with a generally fixed or constant radius and a fixed vertical path (e.g., the passenger may be able to use a joystick to move their vehicle up and down in a predefined arc). The available round rides have a limited and very predictable set of ride dynamics, such as centripetal force applied to the vehicle and vehicle speed, which are unchanging or vary only within a small range. These rides may be thought of as single degree-of-freedom (DOF) rides with a single user or rider input.
There remains a need for new round rides that improve the ride experience such as by providing a larger range of ride dynamics, e.g., bigger range of vehicle speeds, while retaining the benefits of a rotating structure or round ride including a small footprint, simple control systems, and relatively low construction and maintenance costs. For example, it may be desirable to provide a round ride with each vehicle having a motion profile that includes lateral movement (or “lateral flight”) in relation to the center of the rotating hub.